Walter Wangerin Jr.

Wangerin in July 2011

Walter Wangerin Jr. (born February 13, 1944) is an American author and educator best known for his religious novels and children's books.

Biography

Wangerin was born in Portland, Oregon, where his father was a Lutheran pastor. He was the oldest of seven children. The family moved often, so Walter grew up in various locations including Shelton, Washington, Chicago, Illinois, Grand Forks, North Dakota, Edmonton, Alberta, Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Fort Wayne, Indiana. In 1968, he attained an M.A. in English literature from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. He went on to study at Concordia Seminary and Christ Seminary-Seminex, both in St. Louis, Missouri. He attained his M.Div. from the latter in 1976. From 1970 to 1991, Wangerin taught English at the University of Evansville, Indiana. From 1977 to 1985, he was the pastor of Evansville's Grace Lutheran Church. While in Evansville he wrote a weekly column for The Evansville Press and hosted an evening radio show on WNIN-FM.[1]

He has been a professor at Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Indiana since 1991, where he teaches literature, theology, and creative writing, and is writer-in-residence. Wangerin was honored in 2009 by being selected one of Valpo's 150 Most Influential Persons.

Wangerin is the author of more than thirty novels, numerous children's books, and a handful of plays, and he has received several awards for his short stories and essays. He has been a college professor, a radio announcer, a book reviewer, a pastor of a Lutheran church, and has also taken part in cultural ceremonies such as a Lakota Sun-Dance.

Most of his writing has been religious, primarily giving theological guidance on subjects such as marriage, meditation, parenting, and grieving. Other religious books concern the events in the Bible.

Awards

Wangerin is probably known best for his fables The Book of the Dun Cow and its sequel The Book of Sorrows. The Book of the Dun Cow won a U.S. National Book Award in the one-year category Science Fiction.[2][lower-alpha 1] In 1986, Valparaiso University awarded Wangerin an honorary doctorate.[1]

His Letters from the Land of Cancer received the Award of Merit in the Spirituality category of the 2011 Christianity Today Book Awards.

The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association awarded Wangerin six Gold Medallions (now Christian Book Awards) in several categories.[3]

  • 1986, Potter, children's books
  • 1988, As For Me and My House, marriage and family
  • 1993, Reliving the Passion, devotional
  • 1997, The Book of God, fiction[4]
  • 1999, Growing Deeper series, inspirational
  • 2001, Paul, a Novel, fiction

Books

This literature-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Notes

  1. ↑ From 1980 to 1983 in National Book Award history there were dual awards for hardcover and paperback books in many categories. Most of the paperback award-winners were reprints, including this one.

References

  1. 1 2 Bigham, Polly (December 18, 1990). "Wangerin leaving Evansville to teach". Evansville Press. Retrieved June 28, 2018.
  2. ↑ "National Book Awards – 1980". National Book Foundation. Retrieved 2012-02-28. (With essay by Harold Augenbraum from the Awards 60-year anniversary blog.)
  3. ↑ "Christian Book Awards". Evangelical Christian Publishers Association.
  4. ↑ Excerpt online
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